In tongue and cheek fashion, he prefaced this particular segment of his presentation by quoting, among others, Yogi Berra, who once said "things are changing so fast that even the future is not what it used to be."

He also touched on several blunders in the world of prognostications, including a Western Union internal memo in 1876 that proclaimed "the telephone has too many short comings to be seriously considered as a means of communication," and when Chairman of IBM Tom Watson, in 1943, said "I think there is a world market for maybe five computers."

Regardless, below are six facets of the future that Boschmnan believes "might be" worth taking a closer look at:

1. The big mega universities are not in the Western world. They are in countries like China and Turkey. Relating to these mega universities could present interesting opportunities for U.S. institutions.
    
2. Islamic studies are developing into major interests among Americans who are willing to take courses related to this subject via the web.
    
3. India is a major IT developer, has English as its second language, a large population base, and highly educated workers who can produce at low costs. Opportunities will continue to grow for developing relationships with institutions and corporations in India.
    
4. "Spanish is an up and coming environment." Hispanics are the fastest growing population in this country, and courses and programs need to be translated into Spanish for Hispanics living in the U.S. Also, the translation of U.S. course material to be offered to people living in Latin American needs to be carefully adapted to local nuances and traditions. "A degree is content sensitive, not language sensitive," says Boschman. "Our Chancellor tells us that there is no reason why somebody shouldn’t be getting a degree even though all their courses were taken in Spanish."
    
5. The electronic student portfolio, which enables students to electronically record and demonstrate their work and learning experience, spanning their educational and employment careers, is now being developed and will soon be part of what students will demand from institutions.
    
6. More outsourcing will become the norm. "IT outsourcing likely will include not only hardware and software development, but programs and courses as well. It is just too expensive for every institution to develop good courses in every field."